


The Land of Idea

by xingnini



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forests, Gods, M/M, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-15 18:49:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11812071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xingnini/pseuds/xingnini
Summary: While being punished for stealing from the villagers, Jongdae also manages to steal the Forest Guardian’s heart.





	1. 믿음

**Author's Note:**

> Concept: Me, sinking deeper and deeper into the soft forest earth. I can rest here as long as I want. Based off of Gu Wolryung and Yoon Seohwa's love story in Gu Family Book.

The forest teemed with life as the trees swayed with the wind and the insects lowly buzzed about on the woodland floor. There was an unspoken liveliness that rushed between branches and ran through the moss-covered ground. Deeper into the forest was a mountain where no human dared to explore because of the dangers that posed a threat to any mortal’s existence.

 

A single deer came into view as it bent its neck down to take a bite of the small graminoid patch it found. It was a huge deer, bigger than any others that could be found in that forest. It was a deer that hunters would kill to have a bullet through its head and would spend many, many years tracking it down once it was spotted.

 

However, no one knew that this deer was considered to be invincible.

 

Hence why it was able to carelessly let its guard down majority of the time. It paid no attention to its surroundings as it munched on the grass.

 

_Swoosh!_

 

All of a sudden, a wall of leaves shot up near the deer, prompting it to become alert and flee. It had heard a surprised, muffled yell when the unexpected onslaught of leaves shot up. The deer immediately ran away, using the opportunity to take off from the hunter, and therefore, escaped its near death.

When the deer ran off someplace safe and far away from the hunter, it made a stop and calmed down. It listened for any more danger before it began looking for more grass to eat.

 

“You know, you are lucky that I am always around,” it heard a voice say.

 

The deer whipped its neck around to see the figure of a man coming into view. It knew that this man was not a hunter — he presented no danger. In fact, this man was his protector and was the one who gave him the opportunity to escape from the hunter.

 

“Please be more careful, Luhan,” the man implored. “One day, I’m going to get really tired of rescuing you and will just leave you to die.”

 

“I know I can always count on you to save me,” Luhan teased. “Think about how boring your immortal life would be without me.”

 

“I’m thinking about how less annoying and bothersome it would be to have no interruptions in my schedule to save you.”

 

“Oh please, Yixing. Let the next hunter kill me then. I bet my head would look real nice on his wall,” Luhan scoffed and bent his head down to eat some grass again.

 

Luhan felt a sudden sharp pain in his bottom, so he jumped forward and yelped in pain. He turned to see what it was — a tree branch had just whacked him in the butt?!

 

“What was that for?!” Luhan snarled at Yixing.

 

“What was what for? I don’t know what you are talking about,” the man answered innocently.

 

As a deer, Luhan couldn’t reach his behind and rub it to soothe the pain, so he had to miserably deal with it. He also had the option of shifting into his human form, but that required too much energy in his opinion, and he was too lazy and carefree to do it too frequently.

 

“Come to the edge of the forest with me,” Yixing asked Luhan.

 

“Why should I?” Luhan answered. “You were just being mean to me and now you’re asking me to come along with you to help you perform _your_ duties?”

 

“I just wanted to have someone accompany me,” Yixing pouted. “I just have to check what the people of the village are up to… I’ve been hearing that they want cut down the trees of the forest one by one.”

 

“You have fun, I’ll catch up later,” Luhan brushed him off and continued eating. The man huffed and turned around, immediately speeding through the forest.

 

Yixing was the immortal Guardian of the Forest — he could bend the plants and trees to his every will and he could easily communicate with animals. His duty was to protect the forest and prevent any intruders from bringing harm to his home. He also had the unrequired task of saving his friend, Luhan, the deer spirit, from being poached by hunters.

 

The forest guardian’s senses were heightened and he had extraordinary abilities such as enhanced speed and supernatural strength. Over the years, he had learned to control them, being the gentle spirit he was, and only used them when completely necessary. He also had the ability to heal wounds and injuries caused to him or the beings in his forest.

 

Soon enough, he reached the edge of the forest and was able to overlook the village from one of the trees. People were bustling about, as usual, spending more time and attention on their material needs rather than appreciating the gifts nature has to offer. Over the years, Yixing had witnessed them slowly exploiting the forest from under his nose for their own selfish and shallow benefit. He was one of the nicer spirits, and the people took advantage of that — however, they knew they were reaching his limit and wanted to get rid of him altogether so they would be free to do what they wanted.

 

Yixing watched and listened.

 

“Get a hold of him, get a hold of him,” a voice he heard made his head turn.

 

“Make sure he doesn’t wake up, otherwise he’d be able to escape,” hissed another.

 

The guardian saw a group of men carrying a single unconscious person, making their way towards a pole. The long pole stuck out from the ground and was situated in front of the place they were coming out from.

 

Yixing grew curious, so he continued looking onto the scene unfolding in front of him.

 

Other men came out of the building with ropes — it was clear they were going to tie the knocked out boy to the pole. The guardian could see the men pulling really hard on the ropes, hard enough that they were grunting and struggling, even sweating when they were done.

 

The young man was still unconscious, his eyes closed and his head hanging over to the side. To Yixing, he looked so vulnerable and defenseless, and the guardian had the strange urge to rip the ropes off and save him.

 

What had he done to deserve this punishment?

 

 

Jongdae is a thief.

 

Jongdae is a liar.

 

Jongdae is a cheater.

 

That is why, right now, he is tied to a post as punishment for the whole village to see. He should be humiliated for his wrongdoings, but really, he's only ashamed that he managed to get caught.

 

He had woken up like this after being knocked out when he was found committing his crime. A bucket of cold water was splashed onto his face to wake him up. Half-awake and half-unaware, he had to listen as the council stood before him and told him that he was to spend seven days stuck like that; his other option was to apologize to the family he stole from. He was to repent for his wrongdoings and go without food or water the whole time he spent before apologizing to the family. He should suffer just as his crime would have made his victims suffer.

 

Jongdae refused to apologize. Why should he say sorry when he didn’t feel any remorse? He finds thrill and fun when he’s able to get away with stealing from or manipulating people. It’s how he runs his life. He didn’t care who he hurt and how much he hurt them, as long as he was the one who got out of any situation unscathed.

 

The first day, he stood proud and tall. He straightened his posture against the pole, and no matter how many people walked by with judgmental looks on their faces and no matter how many mouths spat at him, he would not waver. His head was held high and he kept his chin up.

 

The second day, he started feeling weaker, but he still managed to keep his back upright during the first half of the day. However, as the day wore on, being strapped tightly to a pole and putting on a brave mask made him grow tired. He could feel his body starting to become numb from how tight and suffocating the ropes were. He was also dehydrated due to lack of water and hungry without any food.

 

The third day, he grew delirious. He didn’t want to wake up, and he drifted in and out of consciousness every now and then. He didn’t even register the smell of his urine and couldn’t feel the shame and humiliation he should be feeling. The people who had tied him there came out to check on him and grew annoyed every time they found him unconscious. They decided to throw water at Jongdae every time he was not awake. It was torture — that water could have been water to drink.

 

On the fourth morning, Jongdae would not wake up— he didn’t have the energy to. He was completely dehydrated and his blood wasn’t flowing properly. His perpetrators decided that they were going to untie him and bring him back inside the house.

 

Yixing watched on from his tree as the men were deciding what to do with this punishment. He wanted so badly to help and set the victim free, but he knew better than to interfere.

 

“Yixing!!” The forest guardian turned his head towards the sound of his name. “Yixing!! Where have you been?!” Luhan came into view, the forest sprite in his human form. “You haven’t performed your duties in three days!! Don’t tell me you’ve been here the whole time?!”

 

“Sorry,” Yixing apologized. “Did something happen?”

 

“Nothing happened, the moss and ferns are just complaining because you haven’t visited them,” the sprite replied. “What are you doing here?”

 

Yixing turned his concentration back to the human that was tied to the pole. Luhan followed his gaze and immediately caught on.

 

“You've been watching _that_ for the past three days?!”

 

“I think he really needs help, Luhan...”

 

“Have you never seen human punishment before? They do this to each other all the time! He probably did something wrong!”

 

Yixing still looked a little bit unsure, and he had a lingering look of longing when he directed his attention towards the boy being untied from the pole.

 

“Don't even let it cross your mind about saving him, Yixing. Think about it — if you care about one human, you have 6 billion others to take care of. Imagine the imbalance you'll create if you meddle in just one's life.”

 

The boy was taken hold of by one man carrying his arms and another carrying his legs. The lithe and unconscious body disappeared from view as he was hauled into the—

 

“HELLO?! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!” Luhan hollered, causing Yixing’s attention to focus back on his friend.

 

The guardian turned his head to the forest sprite.

 

“In the past three thousand years or so, I’ve never seen you stray away from your duties like this before. I shouldn’t be there to remind you to stay on track,” Luhan growled before retreating back into the woods. Yixing watched as his friend flitted out of sight.

 

“Well, I shouldn’t be there to always save your deer butt, but I am, aren’t I?” Yixing muttered into the air, since his friend was long gone.

 

Even though he had just received a scolding, he didn’t learn his lesson. He still stayed out there, watching if anything happened. He needed to know whether or not that human was okay. He waited, and waited, and waited…

 

 

When Jongdae first woke up, he was confused. There were women — all caretakers — around him who were whispering, murmuring things like, “He’s finally up,” and “What’s going to happen to him now?”

 

He sat up straight, shook his head, and almost immediately felt dizzy. He regained himself and realized where he was. The darkness outside the window indicated that it was the night hours. Taking a look around the room, he realized he was in one of the rooms of the punishment house — why were they taking care of him though?

 

The door slid open with a bang and the Head of the Council walked in.

 

“Ah, you've finally awaken. You must be conscious to hear the decision we've reached,” he said.

 

“Decision?”

 

“Decision concerning your fate.

 

“Kim Jongdae, by order of the Council, we hereby declare that you shall be subjected to the death penalty for the crimes you have committed on multiple occasions. Furthermore, we have decided we could not pardon your last offense. Tomorrow, at the break of dawn, you shall die a death of a thousand cuts. This is final and there will be no changes to this decision.

 

Jongdae thought this was a joke, but the Head Council had seemed so serious. He stated the decision with such a grave and authoritative voice, that even Jongdae thought it would have been inappropriate to laugh at said joke.

 

This was ridiculous; Jongdae was invincible! How could he die like this? How can his life be ended like this?

 

The Head of the Council turned his back on the thief and exited, the door closing behind him. Sensing that he had been disrespected, Jongdae grabbed the nearest thing to him and angrily hurled it at the door, causing all the caretakers to cower in shock and fear. All of them scrambled out of the room, since he seemed perfectly fine and no longer had any need for their assistance.

 

He sat on the sheets, seethed in anger, thoughts sprinting through his mind. How was he to get out of this situation? He was not going to die like this; he refused to.

 

He would have to escape.

 

He had to do it tonight, for he was to die early in the morning. Gears were turning in his head and a plan to run away was working to be set in motion.

 

 

Yixing shot upright as he heard banging and crashes resounding throughout the house. He grew increasingly worried that something was happening to the human that he was watching earlier. Were they hurting him?

 

The shouts and yells coming from the house were loud enough to wake up neighboring houses.

 

Suddenly, the front door flew open and the human scrambled out of there, stumbling and almost falling on the dirt as he ran. In a quick second, he looked like he didn’t know where he wanted to run. He turned his head towards the west end of the village, but then he turned to the right where the edge of the forest was.

 

Yixing felt as if he were looking right at him.

 

The human started sprinting towards the woods, and a whole group of men ran out of the house, yelling and running after him after spotting him making his way toward the forest.

 

They were trying to catch him.

 

Yixing needed to help him.

 

He leaped off the tree branch and gracefully landed on the forest floor. He knew where all of them were headed. He could feel the energy of the forest becoming more and more disturbed the deeper all of them ran into it. Using his speed, he hurriedly made his way over to an open spot — an area almost near the heart of the forest that was cleared of trees — where they were all going to pass by.

 

Soon enough, the boy came into view with the men who were chasing after him right at his heel. They had really caught up to him and were about to close in on him.

 

The boy fell.

 

He thought all was lost as the men all circled around him, trapping him and leaving no option of escape. He heard them taunt and jeer at him, laughing at their victim who was trapped and fallen on the ground.

 

“You little weasel, you thought you could escape, huh?”

 

“We’re going to take you back, and your life is going to end tomorrow like it’s supposed to.”

 

“How does it feel, Kim Jongdae, to finally be the one at a disadvantage?”

 

Jongdae tried, he really did. This is the end of his miserable and pathetic life. Maybe it’s time to accept it. He could see one of the men making his way towards him, probably about to hit him and beat him…

 

_Swoosh!_

 

“What was that?” one of the men asked sharply.

 

The sound of rustling began, coming from the trees surrounding the area, and it wouldn’t stop. The men’s panic was growing increasingly visible and Jongdae couldn’t help but feel terrified at what was about to attack them.

 

_Swoosh!_

 

Jongdae saw that what made the sound was a cluster of leaves shooting up.

 

Since Jongdae was on the ground, it was easy for him to spot a vine wrap around the legs of one of the men. “What?...” the man asked aloud when he felt it. The vine grabbed him from behind, causing him to fall forward. “AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

 

Jongdae watched in horror as the man was being dragged back into the trees by the long vine.

 

“What’s happening?!?!”

 

“I don’t know!!”

 

A strong wind blew, making it hard for the men to hear each other and threatening to knock them all off their feet. The trees were shaking violently and the branches seemed to be curling inwards, as if they were mutated arms reaching towards them.

 

Between the trees, they spotted the figure of a man, with green eyes.

 

“WHAT IS THAT?!” One of the men shrieked over all the chaos, while pointing at it.

 

“GET OUT OF THIS FOREST!!” an inhumane voice snarled from the trees. Even through all the rustling and the blowing wind, they heard it loud and clear. “LEAVE!”

 

The men screamed and cowered back.“We need to get out of here!!” one of them yelled at the other. “Never mind about the thief, we can leave him!!”

 

“The monster will eat him instead!”  

 

Forgetting all about Jongdae and leaving him for dead, they scrambled to help untangle their friend from the vines and they all continued running until they were out of sight. As soon as they were completely gone, everything stopped.

 

Everything was still and silent. Jongdae stayed low on the ground, hoping whatever was after them went away and that his life would be spared.

 

He knew his prayers weren’t answered as he saw the figure with the bright glowing green eyes making its way towards him.

 

Jongdae felt bile rising up in his throat and panicked, frantically getting up so that he could live to see another day. His mind was screaming that he needed to get away! The figure of a man was approaching closer and closer, but Jongdae kept tripping over his own feet.

 

Before he could even see the man’s face, Jongdae fainted out of fear.

 

 

When Jongdae awoke, his back was aching and his eyes could barely register anything since he was in a dimly lit place. He could finally see the rocky structure of the walls and the ground and everywhere… was he in some sort of cave?

 

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching. After years of stealing and running away, the first thing his instincts told him to do was hide. He scuttled over to one corner of the cave, doing his best to hide himself in the darkness and blend in with the rocks.

 

He watched a shadow become larger and larger as the footsteps became louder. Soon, a young man came into view with a bunch of dirt and plants in his arms. He set everything down on a table, then brushed his hands off each other.

 

“You’re finally awake?” he called out. “Why are you hiding in the corner over there?”

 

Jongdae’s heart stopped. He thought he had hidden himself well and properly. He’s been found out, so what should he do now?

 

He slowly came forward from his hiding spot and revealed himself. “W-who are you? What do you want with me?”

 

The person laughed a little and then stepped closer towards Jongdae. His face could be seen more clearly now, and he didn’t seem half as menacing as the men who were hounding him down last night. His expression was gentle and calm and it almost made Jongdae feel at peace.

 

“My name is Yixing and I don’t want anything from you. I want to keep you safe though,” he admitted.

 

“Huh? Did you save me?”

 

“I found you unconscious and brought you to a place where no one can harm you. They won’t be able to tie you to that pole again. They can’t beat you or starve you because I won’t let them find you.”

 

“What?” Jongdae was taken aback — never in his life had he had someone want to protect him like this. He’s always had to fend for himself.

 

“Tell me, what’s your name? I told you mine, it's only fair you tell me yours.”

 

Jongdae hesitated; how could he trust someone so early with his name?

 

“Think of it as a trade.”

 

Jongdae mentally shrugged and thought what's the harm in telling him if he doesn't look like a villager. Yixing wasn't dressed like the people in his village and he's never seen him around. Jongdae probably would have stolen from him if he were from the village. He stole from everyone in the village — Jongdae knew everyone and everyone knew Jongdae.

 

This person didn't.

 

“Alright… Kim Jongdae. My name is Kim Jongdae.”

 

“Jongdae… That's a nice name. Okay, well, I hope you know you're not getting all this for free, right?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Price of protection: your presence by my side. That's it,” Yixing smiles cheekily.

 

Jongdae was a little stunned. He was so confused why this stranger was so nice to him. “Why are you doing this for me?”

 

Yixing only smiled. “I would like to do anything for you. It’s what my heart wants and is telling me to do.”

 

Yixing didn’t know if he truly had a heart because he was a spirit, but he did know that he wanted to keep this boy, Kim Jongdae, safe and never wanted to see him suffer again.

 

“Want to eat?” Yixing cheerfully changed the subject. He made his way back towards the table where he dumped a cluster of things earlier. “I didn’t know what you’d like, so I brought a bunch of different foods. I apologize that I don’t eat or kill animals, so there’s no meat here.”

 

“O-oh, it’s okay,” Jongdae stuttered, following him to the table. He can’t remember when was the last time he’s eaten, so even though everything was covered in dirt, it all looked appetizing. He spotted a peach and wanted to reach out for it, but thought it would be a little rude in front of his savior.

 

“Take it if you want to eat it,” Yixing urged him. “I’ll even go and find some more if you want!”

 

Yixing was about to set off and find more, but Jongdae immediately reached out and grabbed his arm. Yixing looked back at Jongdae, then at the hands holding onto him, and back at Jongdae again.

 

“No, no, it’s okay,” Jongdae assured him. Then he asked in a small voice, “Please stay and eat with me…”

 

Yixing’s heart did a little flip and he just couldn’t say no.

 

 

“Who is he?”

 

The deer spirit was in his human form again, because Jongdae was only a couple of yards away. The sunlight streamed through the trees; they were outside the den and in the Moonlight Garden. It would be really weird and hard to cover up a talking deer.

 

Yixing turned to look at Jongdae, who was minding his own business and staying out of whatever the two said they needed to talk about. The forest guardian didn't realize he was beginning to stare.

 

“Yixing, _who is he?_ ”

 

Yixing turned back to his friend, blowing the air of slight annoyance through his nose. “His name is Jongdae.”

 

“Okay, and _what is he doing here?_ ”

 

“I'm hiding him away from the villagers.”

 

“From the villagers? Why would you need t—” A thought struck the forest sprite. “Is this the boy who was tied to the pole that day?! I told you n—”

 

Yixing clamped a hand over Luhan’s mouth. “Shhh! He can hear you!!”

 

He slowly removed his hand and Luhan whisper-shouted, “I told you not to meddle with human affairs!!”

 

“He was in trouble and ran into my forest,” Yixing tried to reason desperately. “It became ‘forest affairs’ when he ran here.”

 

“That's not a good enough reason!!”

 

“It's not like he's poisonous or bringing harm to the forest.”

 

“Yet,” Luhan finished off.

 

Yixing didn't know how to retort to that anymore, so Luhan continued speaking.

 

“Okay, well, I'm going to warn you now and tell you that he needs to leave before something bad happens. He's a human and I don't trust him. He and his kind upset nature and the balance of things. Next time I come here, I want him gone already.”

 

With that, Luhan stalked away and out of the Moonlight Garden. Yixing took a deep breath before looking back at Jongdae, who was still trying to get used to his surroundings.

 

 

Jongdae had nothing to do. After a few days, Yixing could tell he was getting bored, being isolated from the rest of society and having to stay in the Moonlight Garden at all times, but he had no idea how to enlighten him. Yixing wanted to see Jongdae happy, not moping around and staying miserable all the time.

 

Yixing thought it was best if Jongdae stayed in the Moonlight Garden with him. It was Yixing’s home, where he came to at the end of the day after hours and hours of performing duties. It was a place no human could find, because it was so deep in the forest and high up in the mountains. It was very dangerous to ever reach such a place because of the steep slopes and the different creatures roaming around. Yixing was sure Jongdae would be kept safe as long as he stayed with him.

 

Yixing couldn’t bring Jongdae anywhere even if he wanted to because he didn’t want the human to know he was a powerful spirit, the Guardian of the Forest. He’s not sure what reaction he would get out of Jongdae and if it was safe to tell him yet. He’s not sure if he would _ever_ want to tell him.

 

Jongdae sighed deeply as he sat down on a rock. He was looking out at a beautiful view of rocks and colorful flowers and vines, but it was the same view he had been looking at for the past week. Even if Yixing didn’t want Jongdae to die from getting captured, he might die from boredom!!

 

An idea suddenly popped into Yixing’s head.

 

“Hey,” Yixing called out to Jongdae, who turned his head around to look at him.

 

Jongdae had a look of confusion because this was the first time Yixing has spoken to him all day. He didn’t know Yixing was thinking about him the whole time.

 

“Do you want to go somewhere with me?”

 

Where was there to go and what was there to do? See more trees? Jongdae has been staring at the same thing for the past week — all green, green, green.

 

He had nothing else to do, so he gave a small smile and nodded. “Okay.”

 

This would be the first time Jongdae stepped foot out of the Moonlight Garden. The farther he walked away from it, the rockier and steeper the ground became. It was as if the forest floor was becoming more hostile to him for walking all over it as an unwelcomed guest.

 

Yixing was a little ahead, but he could tell Jongdae was struggling to follow him down the mountain. He was probably afraid of falling and hurting himself — it was really easy to get injured if the person was careless and made one wrong move with such steep rocks and dangerous ground.

 

The forest guardian stopped to wait for the human. When Jongdae came close enough, Yixing held out his hand in front of Jongdae, making the latter stop in his tracks. He looked at the outstretched hand, then at Yixing with a confused expression.

 

“Take my hand,” Yixing told him. “You’ll feel more at ease if you hold onto me while we walk down.”

 

“No, no, it’s really okay—”

 

“O-ho!” Yixing interrupted with an stern and authoritative grunt. “Just take it, it’ll make the journey faster. Trust me.”

 

Jongdae looked at the hand again, and slowly but hesitantly gave his own for Yixing to hold. Yixing gave the human one last reassuring smile, then turned forward and started walking again.

 

Jongdae _did_ feel more safe and secure with Yixing hold his hand; if he stepped on slippery moss, Yixing would be there to catch him with a firm grip. He was moving faster than before since he wasn’t as scared to slip and get hurt.

 

Eventually, they made it to leveled ground. Even though Jongdae could walk much more easily now, Yixing didn't let go. Jongdae didn't even notice because he was too comfortable with the hand-holding.

 

“We’re almost there,” Yixing told the human.

 

Soon enough, Jongdae could tell they reached their destination. Pushing past the trees, there was a bank of sediment and a calm, unmoving river. The water was so clear that Jongdae could see just how deep it went and the fish that were moving beneath the surface. Jongdae could see how far the river stretched out, where he could view part of the mountain behind the tall trees.

 

“This place is so beautiful!” Jongdae exclaimed, while still marveling at the view. Yixing could see the happiness on the human’s face, something that he longed to see and was finally able to for the first time.

 

When Yixing finally let go of Jongdae’s hand, the human finally realized just how long they’ve been holding hands. Yixing turned to him and asked, “You’re not scared of the water, right?”

 

Jongdae looked genuinely confused because looking at the water just a second ago, it looked so calm. Why would anyone be scared of the river?

 

“No…?”

 

Yixing smiled. “Alright, good! We’re going white-water rafting. Well… in a way, since we don’t have a raft.”

 

Now Jongdae was _completely_ confused. What would they sit on? And how will they get anywhere on such calm waters?

 

“How would we do such a thing? We have no boat!”

 

“I’ll take care of that easily.”

 

“And there’s not even a single current!”

 

“Let’s just say the Water God owes me a favor,” Yixing said with a sly smile.

 

Water God? Before Jongdae could ask the other what he meant, Yixing stalked back off towards where they came from. Jongdae could only watch as Yixing approached a tree and started leaning in towards it.

 

What was he doing?

 

Jongdae slowly walked closer to Yixing and saw that he was _whispering_ to the tree — he was actually _talking_ to it and having a _conversation_ with it. Jongdae was about to ask him if he was crazy before Yixing start brutally ripping out a huge piece of bark from the tree.

 

“Wha—what are you doing?!”

 

Yixing stopped for a moment; the bark was still attached to the tree, but barely so. How a person could rip off part of a tree like that with his bare hands was beyond Jongdae. “Don’t worry; I asked and it said it was alright, I could take some bark.”

 

“You _asked_?”

 

“Well, yeah, I wouldn’t take it without permission,” Yixing shrugged.

 

“You asked and the tree _answered_?”

 

“Mhm!” Yixing said, completely tearing it off. The piece of bark was huge and big enough for the both of them to sit on. But could it even hold the two of them up on the river? It was flat, and not too thick.

 

Yixing had already started walking back towards the river, but Jongdae was still so confused. He was starting the question the sanity of his savior. When the forest guardian saw that he wasn’t following, he turned around and called out, “Are you coming? It’ll be a lot of fun! Trust me!”

 

Jongdae hesitated, but he ended up making his way towards the river. By the time he reached the edge, Yixing was already laying the bark on top of the water. He gestured for Jongdae to come, but the human began to think more and more that he was crazy. Surely, the wood would either split in half from too much weight or would fail to stay afloat, sinking to the bottom.

 

But the expression on Yixing’s face, the earnest look in his eyes, made him feel like it was okay to trust him and that whatever he wanted to do would be sincere — and for once in his life, Jongdae chose not to follow his gut instincts.

 

Yixing helped him into the piece of bark, and surprisingly, it didn’t seem to immediately submerge. In fact, it was doing a good job in holding him up. From the back, Yixing looked like he was getting ready to pounce, to get on, too…

 

“No, no, no!! We’re gonna sink!! We’re gonna—!”  

 

_Splash!!_

 

Yixing managed to get on and even more miraculously, they managed to stay afloat without him holding it up from underneath.

 

“We’re… We’re still floating…” Jongdae breathed out in surprise.

 

Yixing flashed him a blinding smile. “I told you to trust me.”

 

Jongdae nodded and gave him back a smile of his own. Then, he realized that all they could do was just sit on the piece of bark. They had nothing they could use to paddle. “So now what?” he asked.

 

“Wait for it.”

 

Jongdae realized they were starting to move; the water was beginning to rush beside them as if the river now had a current. Just a second before, all had been still. Jongdae was bewildered beyond belief and he couldn’t believe his eyes.

 

“How is this possible?!” Jongdae shouted over the now-loud rushing water.

 

Yixing only laughed with delight. “Just hold on tight!”

 

The water current was getting faster and stronger, so they were moving more quickly. Jongdae was starting to get a little scared because they didn’t have paddles or much protection, but he still felt a thrill in all of this. He was in the front of the bark and saw everything first hand.

 

The rushing water was even turning white as opposed to when it was completely calm, so Jongdae had no idea where the rocks were. So far, every time they had encountered a rock, the bark was able to skid over it without much damage. Every time it seemed like they were going to crash into something, the water swerved them out of the way last minute.

 

“Yixing, is that a waterfall up ahead?! We’re going to fall down?!” Jongdae shouted over his shoulder.

 

“Don’t worry! We’ll be alright!” Yixing yelled back.

 

Jongdae started to panic and he was even contemplating jumping off of their makeshift boat, even if it wouldn’t do him any good, because he’d be carried away by the current anyway. However, he thought about how many things were impossible at this point, and all he need to do was trust Yixing.

 

_Trust Yixing and everything will be alright._

 

Jongdae closed his eyes and prepared himself for the fall. They were moving quicker than ever and he was ready to be flung off into the air. He opened his eyes for a moment, just in time for the drop.

 

“Ah! AHHHHHHHH!!” Jongdae shrieked at the top of his lungs, covering his eyes as quickly as possible. He didn’t know how long the fall would last, but he felt as if he were flying. He waited for them to plunge into the water and for them to approach their death, but it never came. When he opened his eyes, they had already landed safely on the river. There was no more current, and now Jongdae was more bewildered than ever.

 

Yixing was yelling with victory and excitement.

 

“YESSSSSS!!! WOOOOOOOO!! THANK YOU, SUHO AND WUFAN!!! CONQUERING A DROP FROM A WATERFALL?! AMAZING!!”

 

Jongdae looked back and couldn’t help but laugh, because Yixing was acting like a little kid. Even though he didn’t understand half the things he was saying right now, it didn’t matter because he was feeling the same type of exhilaration as the other. Just remembering the drop from the waterfall and how breathless it had left him made him feel ecstatic. It was a ridiculous idea, but he was happy that he listened to Yixing.

 

He was laughing and laughing.

 

Yixing stopped yelling and looked at Jongdae in surprise. Then a smile broke back onto his face. “Your laugh… it sounds so genuine.”

 

Jongdae glanced curiously at him, but the smile never left his eyes.

 

“It’s beautiful.”


	2. 배신

“Where are we going today?”

 

Yixing smiled, still walking ahead. “You’ll see.”

 

For the past week, Yixing did his best to always keep a smile on Jongdae’s face. He never wanted the human to fall bored or have nothing to do, so he decided that it would be okay for the human to leave the Moonlight Garden, as long as he was always with him. They walked down the mountain so much that Jongdae wasn’t as afraid to slip and fall anymore.

 

Yixing helped Jongdae climb a tall tree to see the view of the birds flying overhead, he taught him how to shoot with a bow and arrow, and they went scavenging for berries together. Jongdae was starting to expect that they would have something to do every single day.

 

When they finally reached the bottom of the mountain, Yixing unexpectedly stopped Jongdae.

 

“Before we go on, I have something to ask you.”

 

Jongdae blinked at him. “What is it?”

 

Yixing was already scared of the answer before he even asked the question. He could play it off as a simple question, as if it were to create conversation. However, to him, it wasn’t.

 

“Have you heard of the Forest Guardian?”

 

Jongdae racked his head to recall. “I’ve probably heard of it.”

 

“Have you ever heard the villagers saying anything about wanting to get rid of him?”

 

“Ah, yeah, you’re right. I’ve heard them say that they wanted to send people into the forest for its capture and even offered a huge monetary reward for it. I’m not sure why they would want to do that, though. I’ve heard them say it was a benevolent spirit. It hasn’t bothered us either. Doesn’t ‘Forest Guardian’ mean it only wants to protect the forest?”

 

“Mmm, I suppose. Rumor has it that they want to tear down the forest for more land, so they are scared the Guardian will lash out at them — which is why they find the need to eliminate it,” Yixing smiled. “What would you do? If you ever encountered him—I mean, it?”

 

Jongdae thought for a bit. “I don’t believe in its existence. I don’t think it’s real.”

 

That wasn’t the answer Yixing was expecting, so he faltered a bit. “Oh, I guess. Alright,” he said, not wanting to push it and seem suspicious. “Let’s continue walking then, shall we?” he asked, gesturing his arms in front of him. “I have something to show you.”

 

When they wandered around for a considerable amount of time, Yixing turned around to Jongdae and put a finger to his lips. _Shh…_

 

Jongdae silently nodded and they began walking slowly, as if they were sneaking up on someone. The more they walked, the more he could hear a soft crying and whimpering noise. Among the trees and on the ground was a pregnant fox.

 

Yixing immediately kneeled down next to the female and started running a comforting hand along her body. Jongdae could only watch as Yixing bent down and started whispering in her ear. It seemed as if she had considerably calmed down because the crying had stopped.

 

Little by little, Jongdae witnessed life come about firsthand. Four foxes were safely born, due to Yixing being able to calm the mother down. She was now cleaning her babies and recovering.

 

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Jongdae murmured to Yixing, both looking on at the mother nursing her kits.

 

“Stunning, right? Witnessing how these lives came to be,” Yixing answered.

 

Jongdae nodded, still amazed at being able to see such a beautiful sight. “How did you find her? You ran into her with such good timing.”

 

“I’ve known this fox for a long time, and knew she hangs around in this spot. I check up on her every once in a while.”

 

What Yixing said was not a lie, but it wasn’t the complete truth either. He knew the movement of everything in the forest, whether it be the trees, the animals, or intruding humans. He could feel the energy emanating from every single living thing, distressed or calm. He knows what’s going on in his forest every single waking moment.

 

They watched the mother fox and made sure she was healthy and comfortable before Yixing turned to Jongdae and said, “We should head back now… before it gets dark.”

 

They walked back up the mountain and into the Moonlight Garden, and before they knew it, night fell upon them. Yixing set up a fire outside, where they could sit in front of to keep warm when eating their food.

 

Jongdae was sitting in front of the flames, thinking about the birth of the foxes. Their mother immediately took care of them, welcoming them into the world with warmth, no matter how cruel and cold the world actually is. They had her protection and her love — something he never experienced.

 

“What are you thinking about?”

 

Jongdae was shaken out of his thoughts and he realized he had been staring at the same spot for too long. He immediately looked at Yixing, who was looking at him intently.

 

“Ah, nothing, nothing,” he answered quickly, giving him a nervous laugh.

 

“You can tell me,” Yixing told him softly with a reassuring smile.

 

.

.

.

 

_‘Everything this guy does… is break through the walls I didn’t even realize I had…’_

 

.

.

.

 

_‘How can he just offer to smile at me like that, when he doesn’t even know who I am or what I’ve done?’_

 

.

.

.

 

_“How can he make me trust him so easily, when all my life I’ve had no one to lean on, but myself?’_

 

.

.

.

 

“How do you know? How do you know I have something to tell? How do you know how I feel?” Jongdae asked, voice failing to sound strong.

 

Yixing looked at him for a long moment, as if he were thinking how to answer properly. He pursed his lips before speaking. “I can sense it,” he replied. “You’re hurting and you’re heavy-hearted. I think telling me could relieve some of the weight.”

 

Jongdae let out a deep sigh and Yixing remained silent, waiting for him to speak.

 

“The foxes… their mother… I’ve never experienced that…”  

 

Yixing didn’t quite understand, so he continued to stay quiet and listen.

 

“My mother passed away giving birth to me, so I didn’t experience the care and warmth that the baby foxes did…

 

“But then, I thought about it and realized I wouldn’t even remember what happened when I was little anyway. How could I remember how my mom held me when I was just seconds old? Just when I thought it didn’t matter, I realized she was _never_ there for me. I have nothing to remember from 2 years old, 5 years old, 15 years old!

 

“My father didn’t want anything to do with me. He neglected me, and so I starved. He would beat me to release some of his anger and his stress. It was as if I wasn’t his son; as if I was just his punching bag. I started stealing food from the markets since he wasn’t feeding me, and I never stopped after that. Eventually, my father passed away, but his death didn’t make a difference because I’ve always fended for myself anyway.

 

“No one would help me… there were always people who would scold me or punish me just because I was trying to survive. I’ve lost my faith in humanity. I couldn’t trust anyone.

 

“I ended up wanting to live more than ever. I wanted to show everyone that I'm capable all by myself. I refused to cry since I wanted everyone to see how strong I was. I didn't need anyone's help. I got my own house and could feed myself. I was good at one thing, and it was stealing. Everyone knew I was a thief, but no one ever caught me in the act or had any evidence to accuse me with. So I continued stealing to spite everyone who looked down on me.”

 

Jongdae hadn't even realized he was shaking or clenching his fists until Yixing placed a gentle hand on his own. Jongdae’s eyes locked with Yixing’s and all he could see was warmth and understanding. He was never given this look before in his entire life.

 

“You must have been lonely.”

 

Jongdae didn’t know how to respond at first, so he bit his tongue due to nervousness. He quickly recovered from initial shock and scoffed, “Pft, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Even if that’s the case, I’m fine. It’s been like that for a while, so I’ve gotten used to it. Everyone in the village hated me, so I found it better to be by myself.”

 

“But I don’t hate you.”

 

Jongdae’s look of surprise quickly molded into disgust. He stood up and said, his voice raising with anger every word he spat out, “What do you mean? Don’t you know what stealing is? I steal, I lie, I cheat! Can’t you see how bad of a person I am? Why don’t you hate me? Why aren’t you telling me to leave? I shouldn’t be sticking around with a nice person like you! If the villagers find that you are hiding me, they will kill you, too!”

 

Yixing looked away from Jongdae. “I don’t care about that. As long as you’re safe with me. You may think you’re a bad person, but the way I see it, you’re inherently good. You cheated your way out of being unjustly put to death. You lied about your feelings, telling me you find it better to be by yourself when you’re actually lonely. As for stealing, you _have_ stolen something from me...”

 

Jongdae panicked. “I did? I don’t remember—”

 

“You stole my heart.”

 

Jongdae calmed down, realizing he didn’t actually inflict harm on the one person that has shown him warmth his entire life, but at the same time, he was so confused. “Why are you so nice to me?”

 

“Does there need to be a reason for someone to be nice to you?”

 

Jongdae gave him a skeptical look.

 

“If I were to be honest, you’re someone special to me. I’ve been alone for most of the life, too, but when I met you, I realized being with you is better. For the first time in my existence, I’ve found someone I want to protect with my entire being. I want to do nice things for you to smile. You know, you look a lot happier when you smile. I want to see you laugh because of the things I do for you. I can see you putting on a protective front, but I want to be the one that you don’t have to wear that in front of. I want to keep you safe for the rest of your life. I would never tell you to leave just because you think it’s dangerous for me.”

 

Yixing finally turned his head to face Jongdae and gave him a small smile. “So will you stay with me?”

 

Jongdae thought about how ever since he was little, everyone had asked him to leave, to get out, to get away from them. His father would scream at him to die, to stay away from him, so that he would never have to see his face… The villagers would beat him, wanting scum like him to leave the village as if he were a cockroach…

 

And when he did leave, he ran into Yixing — Yixing, the only person who protected him, who loved him, who asked him to stay for the first time in his sad and miserable life. Yixing, the only person who could make him laugh and smile, and make him feel wanted in this world.

 

Jongdae can feel his heart slowly opening up, and he thinks, in time, he can grow to love and trust Yixing.

 

And so, the thief nodded.

 

 

“And he’s still here. Of course he’s still here. WHY IS HE STILL HERE?!”

 

Yixing flinched with every pitch Luhan’s voice climbed. “Can you please stop yelling? He might hear you,” he said nonchalantly, referring to the human who was outside. He continued willing tiny flowers to grow from the rocky ground of the cave, as he sat cross-legged to view his progress up close.

 

“MAYBE I WANT HIM TO HEAR ME! HE NEEDS TO LEAVE!! HE’S DISTRACTING YOU FROM YOUR GUARDIAN DUTIES!!” Luhan stopped pacing, taking a good look at Yixing, and scoffed when he saw he wasn't paying attention. “DO YOU WANT ME TO THROW HIM OUT MYSELF?!”

 

“Stop,” Yixing commanded sternly. “Why can't you just let him alone?” He started gently prying the flowers from the ground and began weaving some together.

 

“Because he's affecting you! You're not yourself! Do you remember how you used to protect me from the poachers? Do you know how many times I've almost been killed this past month?!”

 

“And whose fault is that?”

 

“ _His!!!_ ” Luhan roared, his frustration bouncing off the walls of the cave.

 

Yixing only rolled his eyes because of his friend’s dramatics and continued putting the flowers together.

 

“Stop putting the blame of your own faults on others. I've told you that you need to be more aware of your surroundings. Maybe this is a lesson for your own good.”

 

Luhan let out a huff of exasperation, then sank down to where his friend was sitting to sling an arm around his shoulders. “Listen, _I_ know about human nature. You think you do, but you're too innocent to comprehend their deceptive nature. That human was a thief and he only cares about himself. What do you think he will do when he finds out that you not only aren’t human, but the Guardian of the Forest? The otherworldly being that the people of his village want to see gone? They’ve been spreading rumors that you want to hang their bodies up in the trees and turn them into insects!! I’m pretty sure the human knows about the bounty on your head!”

 

“I have no intention of telling him what I am. I plan to act human even if it's for the rest of his life. He doesn't have to find out.”

 

“And if he does?”

 

“He’ll look past it.”

 

“Wrong!” Luhan yelled out, immediately standing again. “He’s a thief, he will definitely trade you in for money. And if that’s not it, he will get scared and he will act rashly, because that is part of his human nature. They're all cowards by default.”

 

“I believe in Jongdae. He's the bravest human I've met during the sad three thousand years of my existence. I know you don’t like him, but you don't know him. That being said, please watch what you say about him.”

 

“‘Sad’?! How could your existence have been ‘sad’ if you’ve known me for a good part of it?!” Luhan screeched, beyond offended. The guardian only continued to ignore him.

 

“Yixing,” Luhan pleaded, “I'm warning you because you're my friend. He will betray you. I don't want to see you hurt.”

 

“Jongdae knows my heart, and I'm slowly getting closer to his. Even though it's taking him some time, he's opening up to me.”

 

Luhan crossed his arms across his chest and finally looked down on what the guardian was doing. “Are you making a flower crown?”

 

Yixing started humming.

 

“Is it for the human?!”

 

The guardian smiled shyly and nodded his head.

 

The deer sprite let out a strangled cry, and he was very close to ripping the flower crown out of his friend’s hands and tearing it to shreds. “When the time comes that he betrays you, I can't even laugh at you and tell you ‘I told you so’ because of how in-depth your feelings for him are! You're completely love sick! You’re so pitiful!”

 

As realization hit, Yixing widened his eyes and stopped putting the flower crown together. “Love sick? Love...? Luhan… I think I love Jongdae…” The wider the smile began to grace his lips, the more horrified the deer spirit became.

 

“Oh my… Oh my, oh my, oh my,” Luhan started moaning in despair.

 

Yixing only chose to ignore him, happily continuing to put together the last few flowers and imagining a smiling Jongdae wearing the crown on his head.

 

 

There came a time when Luhan finally convinced Yixing that Jongdae would be fine in the Moonlight Garden alone. It was a place only they knew about and no one could stumble upon it accidentally. The villagers definitely would not be able to suddenly reach Jongdae just because Yixing was out of the picture.

 

The first few days were uneventful. Yixing would anxiously hurry home only to find Jongdae completely fine. He began to think that nothing could really happen to Jongdae while he was gone. He was in the Moonlight Garden, after all. As the days passed on, he began to get less and less worried about harm reaching the human.

 

It was a day in the second week back to his duties, and Yixing was about to set off from the Moonlight Garden. Jongdae was standing outside of the cave, waving to Yixing and sending him off (even though he didn’t know exactly where Yixing went and what he did).

 

As the guardian was starting to go down the slope, he changed his mind, turned around, and hurriedly made his way back to Jongdae to give him a kiss on the forehead. Jongdae was completely taken by surprise — his eyes were so wide, they looked like they were going to pop out — his expression was priceless to Yixing. The human couldn’t not smile back when Yixing flashed his own contagious one, dimples and all.

 

“Stay safe, I’ll be back soon.”

 

Jongdae nodded, his eyes crescented with joy. Yixing was able to leave the Moonlight Garden after being satisfied with seeing Jongdae smile. He practically skipped down the slope and pranced around greeting the birds and rabbits as he passed by.

 

It took him hours to finish his first task, which was to upright the trees that had toppled over during the storm that occurred the day before. His next chore was to change the colors of the leaves to mark the beginning season of Autumn. He stood firmly on the ground with his hand outstretched towards the leaves of the trees and focused on turning the color of the leaves from a lively green to a bright orange-yellow.

 

His concentration broke when he felt a disruption on the forest ground, specifically coming from the slopes of the mountain. He could feel the body of a human rolling, hitting rocks and hard ground, tumbling down, down, down…

 

Dread seeped into Yixing when he realized the body had slipped nearby the Moonlight Garden.

 

_Jongdae._

 

Then all of a sudden, the disturbance stopped, as if it never happened. It was as if Jongdae’s existence was completely wiped away from the forest. Yixing started to panic, knowing this only happened when a person died or…

 

Yixing completely abandoned his duties and speedily sprinted towards the last place he felt Jongdae’s presence.

 

 

When Jongdae came to, he immediately registered the pain coursing throughout his body — he felt as if he had been trampled all over by an ox. He tried to remember what had happened to him; his head hurt a little, but it wouldn’t kill him to try to retrace back what he was doing. He briefly recalled trying to explore a different part of the Moonlight Garden; however, he saw a rare jade vine and quickly ran over to it, only to slip and tumble down the huge slope.

 

Taking in his surroundings, he realized he had been lying on the ground at the bottom of the mountain. He didn’t recognize this area though; where Yixing and he would walk up and down was exposed to a lot more light during this time of day.

 

This place was dark and had a more ominous feel to it. Chills creeped up his spine the more he stayed there.

 

He heard a growling noise, which made him turn his attention towards a nearby cave. His eyes widened upon seeing bones — human bones — in front of the entrance. He grew more frightened by the minute and tried to get up to run, but he discovered he had sprained his ankle.

 

His cry of pain from trying to move stirred something from within the cave. Jongdae felt his heart stop and he grew horrified when he saw an ugly creature start to come out of it. Its red eyes glared him down and its skull-like face looked famished. As soon as Jongdae saw its hooves and four horns, he knew exactly what he encountered. It was only a legend in his village but he had heard of it nonetheless.

 

He had stumbled into the den of the man-eating Aoyin.

 

The Aoyin growled, pleased with its findings. It stalked towards Jongdae, who was scared for his life and could only stay still. It started circling around him, probably planning out a way to kill him cleanly and eat him afterwards. Jongdae closed his eyes and thought about how _this was the way he was going to die…_

 

A huge force suddenly threw the Aoyin back against the front walls of the cave. Jongdae opened his eyes to see the Aoyin miraculously sprawled on the ground a few feet away from him, then turned back to see…

 

“Yixing!”

 

“Jongdae, run!” Yixing commanded, eyes focused intently on the Aoyin. “Get out of here quickly!”

 

Jongdae tried his best to get up and limp his way out of there, but for the first time in his life, he couldn’t help but think about someone other than himself in this situation. Yixing would be in danger and he couldn’t just leave him by himself.

 

“I can’t just leave without you!!”

 

“I’ll be fine, leave this place immediately!” Yixing answered without hesitation.

 

Jongdae reluctantly dragged himself farther from the scene, just as the Aoyin shook itself out of disorientation. With its sight set on a new target, it charged at Yixing. Jongdae turned around just in time to see Yixing shoot his arm out towards the monster. A thick vine wrapped around the Aoyin’s hind leg and prevented him from getting any closer to the guardian.

 

“Why are you awake?!” Yixing questioned the monster angrily. “I put you to sleep a thousand years ago because you only brought harm and death to the human beings who walked into this forest!”

 

The monster was getting more and more frustrated and easily ripped apart the vine by taking a step forward. Yixing willed more and more vines to latch onto all four of the Aoyin’s legs and delay it from coming closer, but it was still charging towards him.

 

Leaves from trees and from the ground pelted the monster, leaving small cuts all over its face and body. It subdued it a little, allowing Yixing to gather all his strength to conjure a pine branch.

 

“This time, I’m going to have to put an end to your life,” Yixing yelled out. “I can’t allow you to bring harm to this human!” And with that, the sharp pine branch lunged forward and impaled the Aoyin.

 

The evil creature let out a painful animalistic screech. While Jongdae wanted to tear his ears off from the sound of it, Yixing seemed unaffected by it. A dark and black liquid oozed out from the wound on the Aoyin and the monster disintegrated into a burst of dust.

 

Jongdae had watched the whole thing unfold in front of him, Yixing’s back to him the whole entire time. He didn’t know if he could deem what he had just saw as real or as a hallucination. The world was spinning and Jongdae was beginning to become dizzy. There was no way such a being existed in front of him. There was no way Yixing, his savior, was able to kill a monster like that. There's no way that Yixing was not human, but a mythical creature.

 

Yixing turned around and Jongdae saw those same bright green eyes from the night he and his perpetrators were attacked in the forest clearing. He remembered that figure of a man stalking towards him before he fainted out of terror. As Yixing began to stumble towards him, a broken expression on his face as the color in his eyes slowly dimmed down back to normal, the image looked almost exactly the same as that night.

 

“St-stay away from me!” Jongdae yelled out in fear. “You’re… you’re inhuman! You’re a monster!!”

 

Yixing opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. His eyes were sad and his face was pained — pained because of the terror and torment he was putting Jongdae through. He could only keep coming towards Jongdae, only making the human grow more frightened.

 

“STAY BACK!!!” Jongdae screeched before he felt darkness swallow him up.

 

 

Jongdae awoke in the Moonlight Garden cave, on the blanketed tree stump where he usually slept. Yixing was right beside him, half-awake and half-unconscious. Beads of sweat dotted his face and he was breathing heavily.

 

The thief jolted away when he saw how near Yixing was, but the guardian made no move.

 

“J-Jongdae, please,” Yixing stammered, pleading weakly.

 

The human only violently shook his head, hoping to the gods that the _monster_ wouldn't come any nearer to him.

 

“I’m… so sorry… I didn’t mean to deceive you…”

 

Jongdae couldn’t say anything, for fear of saying the wrong words and angering the monster. He was even scared that he would get killed on the spot.

 

“It was to protect you… I would never hurt you…”

 

_Lies. More lies._

 

“I can't bear to see you get hurt…” Yixing’s words trailed off and he slumped onto the ground unconscious. He had used all his energy to kill the Aoyin and he was spent and exhausted.

 

For a moment, Jongdae was at a loss. There were too many emotions flooding him and attempting to drown him. Fear, anger, disgust. He _trusted_ this being with all he had and it probably wanted just that. It would prey on his past, get him to open up to it, and then devour him when he least expected it. He needed to save himself.

 

When the first comprehensible thought popped into his head, he heard, _Now’s the time to run._ Jongdae saw this as an opportunity to escape. If he were to stay here, he could probably die. He had to let the villagers know that a dangerous creature like this resided in the forest next to their homes.

 

He took off into the night and sprinted down the mountain. He ran for fear of his life and he ran for the sake of getting as far away as possible. He stumbled and fell multiple times but he never stopped running.

 

Not once had it crossed his mind that his previously injured ankle was completely and miraculously healed.

 

 

It was still dark when he finally reached the edge of the forest and a fire came into view.

 

“Who’s there?” Two men stood up from around the fire, armed with swords.

 

“Stop!! There’s monsters in the forest!!” Jongdae panted. “I need to tell the villagers!!”

 

The men momentarily dropped their weapons down. “Calm down and come closer. One wrong move, and we’ll have your head,” one of them warned, telling Jongdae he better not try something funny.

 

“Head Council…” Jongdae managed to gasp out. “I need to see the Head of the Council!”

 

The men took a closer look at the thief and recognized him. “Oy, aren’t you Kim Jongdae, the thief that ran into the forest when sentenced to death?” one of them asked.

 

“I need to speak to the Head of the Council!!” Jongdae insisted, ignoring their queries.

 

“What is all this noise at this unacceptable hour?!”

 

Jongdae immediately fell to his knees when he saw that it was the Head of the Council. “What do we have here? Kim Jongdae has come back to beg for his life?”

 

Jongdae ignored that and lifted his head.

 

Immediately, he was slapped straight across the face.

 

“You have the audacity to show your face here after humiliating me and mentally scarring my men, and you come running back to the village _alive_?” The man scoffed and laughed heartlessly. “You should have continued living in the forest, your death sentence here is not revoked. You are definitely not welcomed here.”

 

“Sir, there are monsters in the forest,” Jongdae calmly spoke. “I saw them with my own eyes.”

 

“You’ve been in there for a while, everything must have gotten to your head. You’re even having hallucinations now.” The Head shook his head. “Poor pitiful boy. We’ll put you out of your miserable existence soon enough. Tie him up to the pole again until daybreak. And this time, make sure he doesn't get away,” he ordered the two men, who then bowed.  

 

The Head turned around and was about to walk away when Jongdae grabbed onto his legs.

 

“He had green eyes and he took on the form of a man!” Jongdae frantically shouted. “He had to ability to control the leaves and trees! Nature was at his every beck and call! You have to believe me! I don't know what kind of monster he was, but his powers were great enough to kill the legendary Aoyin!”

 

This caught the Head’s attention. The description sounded like that of the Guardian of the Forest, the spirit that he had been trying to find and kill off for years. If they can get their hands on it, they could finally tear the forest in all of its entirety. Has this rascal finally discovered where to find the guardian?

 

He turned back and bent down to Jongdae’s level. He grabbed Jongdae’s hair and lifted his face up towards his own.

 

“Tell me _more_.”

 

 

“Oh, you’re up. Have you finally come to your senses?”

 

The sunlight streaming into the cave hurt Yixing’s eyes the moment he opened them. He sat up with a groan and immediately rubbed his head. His physical body felt sore and his spirit felt wasted away. The first thing that came to mind was Jongdae. He whipped his head around to look all over the cave for him.

 

“Jongdae… where’s Jongdae?!”

 

“The human ran away.”

 

The guardian met the eyes of the deer sprite in his human form. Luhan had a sour look on his face with his lips pursed, which was something Yixing was not very enthusiastic to have to see first thing when he woke up.

 

“He ran back to his village. I saw it with my own eyes,” Luhan continued.

 

“Is he okay? Did anyone hurt him?” Yixing asked.

 

“He ran away from you and you’re still worried for him?” the deer sprite bursted out, incredulously. “Look, I know you’re in love with him, but don’t you think this is a little too much? Are you really thinking about that in this situation?”

 

“He ran away because of me. He must be so scared of me, because I didn’t protect him well. So stop talking about him that way,” Yixing sighed. “Now answer my question. Did anyone hurt him?”

 

Luhan swallowed down the distaste in his mouth. “No, but they dragged him away. I couldn’t see anything from then on,” Luhan answered reluctantly.

 

“Okay, as long as you didn't see them hurt him,” Yixing said, while slowly getting up. “I'm going to go find him.”

 

Luhan's eyes widened in panic. “What do you mean?! You’re stepping foot in the village?”

 

“If he’s there, if I can find him there, yes,”  Yixing answered, dragging himself to the entrance of the cave.

 

Luhan quickly followed, worried about his friend’s health. “How can you go there in this state? Are you crazy? You can go when you can walk properly!”

 

Yixing ignored him and continued to walk out, only to stop when he reached the outside. Luhan also stopped in his tracks, not sure what Yixing was now staring intently at.

 

“Impossible…” Yixing whispered.

 

Luhan finally saw what he was talking about when the head of a villager first appeared. Then another, and another, and another until a whole crowd of them could be seen. Some of them were armed, carrying swords or bows. A particular sword caught Yixing’s eye, one that was made of flame and fire.

 

The deer spirit was internally panicking, but the forest guardian looked so cool and collected. But how could he when this was happening?

 

A large group of people, _here_ , in the Moonlight Garden.

 

“The ancient Forest Guardian,” the Head Council said proudly, walking through the crowd and out into the open space between the villagers and the two spirits. “You are not just a so-called legend after all, but you are, in fact, _real_.”

 

“How can you be so sure?” Yixing challenged. “I am human.”

 

“But you are not,” the Head said confidently. “Why even bother to continue to lie when you’ve been exposed? You would not have been able to survive here this entire time had you been human.”

 

“We just traveled up the mountain and stayed here overnight! You don’t know us or wh—” Yixing raised his hand to cut off Luhan’s loud and indignant ranting. As soon as the forest guardian moved, the armed villagers swiftly positioned their bows and arrows, aimed directly at him.

 

“One sign of movement, and you’ll be shot,” the Head warned.

 

Yixing stared at the villagers for a few moments before he slowly turned his head to Luhan.

 

“Luhan?” he whispered.

 

“Yixing,” the sprite replied as discreetly as possible.

 

“Change into a deer and _run_ ,” he quietly urged. “You have to leave this place or you’ll get hurt.”

 

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to leave you here alone,” Luhan hissed back.

 

“Luhan,” Yixing pleaded, ignoring the shouts of the villagers to be quiet, “you’re not immortal. If something were to happen to you, I don’t know what I’d do with myself. Listen to what I’m saying and save yourself. I’ll be fine.”

 

The forest sprite knew Yixing was right, so, as reluctant as he was, he morphed into his deer form and scampered away without looking back. Yixing felt more at ease, now that his friend was out of harm’s way and he turned back to the villagers with a question in mind.

 

“How did you find this place? It’s nearly impossible with… out...” Yixing trailed off when he saw the shuffling of feet within the crowd and the sight of a person being dragged and roughly pulled.

 

His heart sank when he saw that it was Jongdae.

 

“Jongdae?” Yixing whimpered. “You led them here? You betrayed me?”

 

Jongdae couldn’t look Yixing in the eye. He didn’t know if it was because he didn’t want to make eye contact with the spirit out of fear or if it was because… he genuinely felt guilty.

 

Jongdae was a thief.

 

Jongdae was a liar.

 

Jongdae was a cheater.

 

How could he feel remorse for exposing the Forest Guardian? Is it because he's shocked that such a being actually existed? Is it because he didn’t know he was leading them to the Forest Guardian, a supposedly benevolent spirit? Is it because of all the moments of sincerity they shared together, where Jongdae truly and wholeheartedly put his trust in Yixing?

 

But he had seen the spirit act out violently and he had gotten scared.

 

Jongdae couldn’t feel regret. It was who he was, it was his character. As long as the situation didn’t affect him and he could get out of this alive, then he would do anything. He was _Kim Jongdae_ , how could he be _scared_ of a mere forest spirit? He could look it in the eye if he wanted to, he wasn’t afraid.

 

And he did, to prove a point to himself, but as soon as he did, he instantaneously regretted it. Jongdae could feel his stomach drop when he saw the shattered and heartbroken look in Yixing’s eyes.

This isn’t what he signed up for.

 

This isn’t what he wanted.

 

“How… how could you?” Yixing asked in the smallest voice the thief has ever heard. “Jongdae?”

 

“Of course he would,” the Head of the Council sneered. “Kim Jongdae would do anything to save his own neck. By turning in a mythical creature like you, he was not only saving himself, but he will also be rewarded a handsome amount of money.”

 

Yixing couldn’t believe his ears. “I-is this t-true? Jongdae—” Yixing stammered taking a step forward.

 

In a split second, all arrows were flying towards him.

 

His heightened senses allowed him to quickly react to them. A wall of dirt and grasses shot up from the ground to protect himself. All the arrows bounced off the wall and split in half, but the men kept shooting more and more in an attempt to break the wall.

 

When they stopped attacking, Yixing waited for a moment before he deemed it safe to pull down the wall. He wanted to seek sense in them and negotiate whatever it is that they wanted. He wanted to reason with Jongdae and say everything he couldn’t before he collapsed back in the cave.  

 

As soon as the dirt fell back to the ground, more arrows shot at him. He commanded the leaves from the trees to hurtle through the air and cut through everything that was shooting towards him.

 

It really seemed the villagers were not willing to talk nor did they want to negotiate. They wanted to get rid of him from the very start.

 

At once, he heard a voice speak to him — the voice of his Mother, the voice of Nature. It was a voice that he rarely heard, but when he did, he needed to listen to her every command.

 

_Kill them. Protect yourself, Guardian of the Forest. Kill them all._

 

_Start with the root of your problems. Start with the boy._

 

Yixing’s eyes glowed green and the primitive instincts that took him a thousand years to control began to take over.

 

The leaves that were still in midair from cutting the arrows flew straight to all the archer’s necks and slit their throats. Blood began to spew everywhere and taint the ground of the Moonlight Garden. The villagers were now screaming in fear, but Jongdae just stood still and watched. Yixing saw villagers who cowered back and tried to leave, but he trapped them and blocked them off with huge mounds of rock and dirt that they could not climb over.

 

As the Head of the Council watched in horror, vines wrapped around some of the men’s necks and started strangling and suffocating them. The Forest Guardian looked at the Head and smirked, as if saying, _Is this what you wanted? Watch your men die because of your greed._ Yixing walked away as a vine began to wrap around the neck of the Head, the leader of the village.

 

It was inevitable that Yixing would walk up towards Jongdae.

 

Jongdae took one longing look towards Yixing, tempted to touch his face and calm him down. After seeing the hurt and desolate look in the guardian’s eyes, Jongdae realized he wasn’t scared anymore.

 

Without warning, roots wrapped around Jongdae’s ankles and briskly yanked him into the ground. In one second, his knees were below the surface of the Earth.

 

Yixing just gave him a cold and hard stare; he was unrecognizable to Jongdae. All traces of kindness and humaneness that he had once known were gone from his face.

 

He sank even lower into the ground, the roots pulling him down until his chest up were visible from above.

 

Yixing was trying to bury him alive.

 

_Maybe I do deserve to die._

 

Jongdae looked straight into Yixing’s angry green eyes. Jongdae felt sorry, the most sorry he has been in his entire life and he wished he could tell Yixing how sorry he was. He was already weighed down by the guilt of betraying the only person who was genuine towards him.

 

When their gazes met, the guardian somehow sensed his sincerity. His expression softened and his eyes slowly turned back to normal.

 

Jongdae saw something behind the guardian’s back and his eyes were full of fear. “YIXING!!”

 

In that moment of his humanity, a villager who had snuck up behind Yixing thrusted the sword made of fire into his back. Yixing was so focused on his conflicted feelings for Jongdae that he forgot all about his surroundings. The sword was impaling him deeper and deeper and Jongdae gasped as he could see the tip coming out from his chest now. Yixing’s eyes were widened in shock and immense pain, his expression morphing into one of sadness and defeat.

 

“Yixing…” Jongdae breathed.

 

Crystal tears of both agony and sorrow started falling from the guardian’s eyes. “I can't do it,” Yixing whimpered. “I can't bring myself to do it.”

 

Jongdae stared, his body forgetting how to respond in such a situation. His mind was wiped blank and he forgot how to speak the words that was once cramming his head.

 

“I’m sorry. I wanted to protect you, I wanted you to be happy,” he managed to gasp out. “I loved you. I loved you so much.”

 

Yixing feebly cried out in pain when the villager pulled on the sword and brought him away from Jongdae. He wrenched the sword out and slashed Yixing across the back; from where he was, Jongdae could see particles of light dispersing into the air from Yixing’s body.

 

Everyone watched in awe and astonishment as Yixing’s body slowly disintegrated into shimmering gold specks of light from bottom up. Yixing took one last heavy-hearted look at Jongdae before he completely disappeared.

 

A cloud of glistening particles stood in his place for a moment before it violently fled up into the sky and wrenched itself out of the Moonlight Garden.

 

Everyone was too stunned to cheer for their victory. The villager, who had stabbed Yixing, dropped the sword and rushed over to pull Jongdae out of the ground with the help of another man. The earth that held the thief in place now easily crumbled and he was able to get out easily. Even when the two helped him to stand up, his legs still felt weak and he sank to the ground.

 

After a few minutes, Jongdae heard shuffling of leaves and bushes.

 

“YIXING! YIXING!!”

 

Out into the clearing came Luhan in his human form again.

 

“YIXING!!” he called out again. He faced the villagers. “Where is Yixing?!”

 

“Your friend is dead,” one of the survivors replied. “That monster is gone now.”

 

“Monster?! Yixing is a sacred spirit who has protected this forest for thousands of years! He has never hurt anyone!!” Luhan shrieked at all of them.

 

“He killed half of our men,” one of the injured villagers shouted out.

 

“But did he start the attack?!” Luhan bellowed back. “Did he hurt you all first?!”

 

No one answered back, because the deer spirit was right.

 

“And you!!” Luhan pointed at Jongdae, who was still sitting on the ground in shock. “He loved you, but you betrayed him!! I hope you atone for the _rest_ of your _life_!!”

 

_He loved you._

 

_He loved you._

 

_He really loved you._

 

_What had he done?_

 

Jongdae looked up at the forest sprite. “I—” he started, but he was immediately cut off.

 

“NO! You can't make up for it, even if you attempted to in your afterlife!” Luhan grieved, mourning in despair and calling out his friend’s name, “Yixing… Yixing… How could they do this to you when you were so understanding towards their wrongdoings to your forest?! How could this have happened to you, Yixing…?!”

 

Jongdae felt something wet hit his hand.

 

He hadn’t even realized the tears falling down his own face.

 

He hasn’t cried since he was born. This was his moment of weakness. It was finally when he realized just how much the Forest Guardian meant to him. Yixing was always the only exception for him, but he never noticed until now. The first person he ever trusted, the first person to show him compassion, the first person to ever love him — it was all Yixing.

 

Maybe…

 

Maybe, Jongdae loved him, too.

 

 

Everything was peacefully quiet and painlessly comfortable.

 

Yixing’s body lied on the ground, surrounded by tall trees and small grasses. He was in a place deep in the forest, deeper than past the mountains he resided. No animal has crossed paths with this area, and Yixing knew he wanted to retreat here. This was a place where he would be at peace and where nothing could hurt him so cruelly again.

 

All of a sudden, a sharp pain struck him in the chest, not from the already partially healed wound that was inflicted upon him by the sword of fire, but from the betrayal of his love. Yixing could heal himself physically, but _this_ , this was a pain he could not bear.

 

After a few moments, the wound in his chest had already closed up, but why did it still feel like there was a hole where his heart should be?

 

It hurt to think about how the Forest had told him to kill everyone in sight; to kill those who would hurt him. And how he had actually listened and ended all of those lives.

 

But he could not kill Jongdae. Not when he loved him too much. He knows the human didn’t mean to hurt him. This was the one order from Nature that Yixing could not carry out. He knew he was weak. As devoted as he was to the Forest, he could not bear to end Jongdae’s life.

 

But…

 

Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.

 

She would protect Yixing in payment for his duty, service, and loyalty to her for all these years. She feels his heartbreak and continues to grow over him — vines, leaves, roots, and all — shielding him and protecting him from the rest of the world. She will make sure no harm comes to him again, for as long as he is lying in the underbrush of the forest.

 

He can come out when he is ready.

 

For now, Yixing can rest here for as long as he wants.


End file.
